Aiwa HS-PX387

The HS-PX387 (also known as PX387) was one in a line of similar looking stereo cassette players consisting of the HS-PX287, HS-GM1000MK2, and HS-EX130, manufactured by the Aiwa Corporation of Japan. The PX387 has the following features and specifications.

• Auto Reverse
• Dolby B
• Full Remote Control
• Multi Sound Processor (M.S.P)
• Metal Tape Selector
• Ear Guard
• 2 mW per channel output into 32 Ω load
• 30-hours operation with LR6 (AA) battery
• Dimensions: 109.2 mm × 78.1 mm × 29.1 mm
• Mass: 138 g

Review

This unit has an extremely complex electronic engineering design based around three principle integrated circuits (IC).The TA2072AF provides preamp, power amp, and Dolby functionality, whilst the E0C63158F0B microcontroller provides mechanism control. It also has the MM1279XV IC, which provides motor driver and servo functionality for the three phase disc motor.

This model has some good points going for it such as the battery compartment that accepts a standard size AA battery. The drive belt is easily replaceable and one does not have to remove the main board.

It’s a lovely interesting design from the Aiwa Corporation, and they have always been good at creating imaginative ideas. In this unit, the cassette compartment lid is metal; however the cover on the other side of the unit is plastic. The Jazz, Rock, Pop, and Classic indicators are not LED, but instead a clever mechanism moves a yellow plastic dial as you turn the selector control. The sound quality is excellent provided you use a good pair of headphones with it.

Price/eBay

These units are sometimes available for sale at the auction site and they can come in varying conditions. On a good day, a unit in mint condition together with its packaging and accessories would be highly sought after by collectors. These units are well past their service life and the drive belt may require changing, however it is fairly simple for a qualified or experienced engineer to do so. The rest of this multi-page article shows photographs of the different design aspects of the unit including an inside look of the electronics and drive belt.

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